Forever Beautiful
by MythGirl Writes
Summary: Sometimes, it takes a while to see that your scars don't make you any less beautiful. A quasi-sequel to Love Like This


**We preach body positivity here yall**

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There wasn't a day that went by that Komaru and Toko weren't out on the streets of Towa City. Day after day, it was mostly the same: defeating Monokumas, helping adults and children return to safety. Nothing really out of the ordinary for them, not after a couple months of the same.

Some days were easy. They could return to their "home" and sleep soundly, for the most part. Those days were Komaru's favorites. She felt like everything would be alright in a matter of days, when they were still trying to recover from the Tragedy and the fallout. Others, though, consisted of significantly more blood, sweat, and tears. And, of course, this _had_ to be one of those days.

She and Toko didn't actually get back until well after dark- and because of Future Foundation's efforts, they could actually tell when that was easier than before. Their evening patrols didn't usually go this long, and it was safe to say they were both exhausted. Toko was relatively unharmed, save for a scratch or two, but Komaru had more than a few deeper scrapes and sore muscles. Most would heal on their own after she washed them, thank goodness. She didn't want to take it easy for another while like she did the last time.

Ugh, but she was tired. She didn't really want to shower. Of course she would end up showering anyway; it was just that she'd been a bit more reluctant to do so for...reasons.

"You're sure you're alright?" Toko checked for probably the tenth time. She took her glasses off for a moment, cleaning the lenses as best as she could with her tattered scarf. Komaru didn't know why she still insisted on wearing the thing, not when Future Foundation had sent them new sets of clothes.

"Perfectly fine. Don't worry about me." She surveyed the scrapes again. Yep, she'd definitely had much worse, especially in these last few months. "I'm going to clean up, unless you want to shower first?"

Toko made a face, putting her glasses on again. She'd gotten better about it, but it was kinda fun to tease her like that. "Y-you can go ahead, thanks. I might just fall asleep instead."

It was pretty late, after all. She let out a short laugh before going into the apartment's only bathroom. She started the water running, not waiting for it to warm before stepping in. That could take forever, and besides, the colder the water was, the less time she'd take.

She could tell exactly where the scrapes were as soapy water ran over them. From her count, there were at least seven total. Maybe more, counting the smaller ones. In the back of her mind, she wondered if any of them would scar as they healed.

The thought made her from and quicken her pace, finishing quickly and turning off the water a minute later. She dried off and put on one of the pairs of pajamas Future Foundation sent with the clothes. She hated this pair; loose shorts and a t-shirt instead of long sleeves and pants. This never used to bother her.

It was strange. When she was younger, before the Tragedy, she used to think it was cool that one of her friends had a single scar on the back of her shoulder from a fall. She thought of it as something unique, something to talk about. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't apply that logic to her own scars.

The skin of her left arm was marred the most from the helicopter crash. It extended all the way up from her forearm to her shoulder, and part of her neck. It was impossible to hide it all, especially with her short hair, unless she wore a turtleneck, which she did not have. Not to mention, sometimes that arm hurt so much that she could barely move it. On the really bad days, her neck hurt along with it.

A couple places on her legs and back were bitten up with scars from all of the falls and hits she'd taken since arriving in Towa City. A few were from Monokumas, some from the Warriors's mechas, but for the most part they were from other sources.

On her right arm were three of her deepest and more recent scars from a Monokuma ambush months before. Those had hurt a lot, but at least toko has been there to help her patch them up. Not like the other times, when she was alone when she got them. These three were slightly raised from her skin, almost like a long surgical scar would be. At least the smaller ones that marred her face weren't as noticeable right away.

She hated every single one of them.

A knock tore her eyes from the mirror. She barely even realized that she'd been staring at herself in it, studying the scars peeking out from under the short sleeves. "You're taking a long time in there," Toko said, less complaining and more concerned. She didn't follow up the statement with anything else.

Komaru opened the door, standing face to face with her. "Do you think I'm ugly?"

"What are you even saying?" Toko shook her head, slightly taken aback. She probably wasn't used to this coming from Komaru. "You're not ugly. What's this about?"

She bit her lip, looking in the mirror once more. "Just- all of these scars, they're ugly. I don't look anything like I used to. Scars like these aren't pretty."

Toko stared at her, long and hard. "What made you think that?"

"Well, look at Hiroko, or an idol like Sayaka, or Hina, or-"

"Komaru, what was one of the first things I said to you?"

"Huh?" She thought back, all those months ago. It was sort of hard to imagine that it had been that long. "I-"

Toko cut her off before she could answer. "I said that you were ugly in a cute way, but I was an idiot then and couldn't just say you're cute." She looked away for a second. "I-I know I don't say it much, but you're beautiful. Don't you know that? With or without scars."

But Komaru's eyes still drifted down. Her helicopter scars, her Monokuma scars, all of them. She never saw people with scars in movies, not unless they were makeup, no idols with scars. That would ruin their image- and weren't they supposed to be beautiful?

"...I see you're not convinced." Toko took Komaru's cool and clammy hands in her warm and soft ones. "Do you think I look nice?"

"...Always." She wasn't really sure where this was going.

Toko took one of Komaru's hands, guiding it to lower the waistband of her pajamas. Etched markings were embedded on her thigh, nothing Komaru hadn't seen before. "I have scars, too. Does that change how nice I look to you?" She shook her head. "What about Kyoko? The burns on her hands, the scars left over from that poison- do those make her any less pretty?"

"Well, no, but-"

"But what? I n-never knew you before this. Or, if I did, I don't remember, and I d-doubt I'll get those memories back at this point. I still thought you were cute when we first met. The scars change nothing about you're beauty, okay?" Her face scrunched up a little in frustration. "I don't know if I'm good at this. You're always so much better with pick-me-ups."

Well, she wasn't exactly wrong about that. "Toko, can I hug you?" She always wanted to make sure, first, just in case Toko didn't want to. But she nodded, and Komaru held her close, closing her eyes. She could tell that Toko was still unused to hugs, but she was getting better at giving them. "Thank you," she whispered, squeezing a tiny bit harder.

If her eyes weren't shut, she would've seen Toko blush. "A-all I did was state the obvious. Don't you forget it, okay? You're beautiful. Anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong." Her voice tapered off a little at the end, and Komaru felt a kiss pressed lightly to her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She had no idea where she'd be without Toko. The last few months, knowing her and dating her, were some of the best of her life. Toko (and Syo, when she was fronting) were always there for her. As cheesy as it sounded, she didn't want to imagine life without them. She certainly wouldn't be there.

Toko released herself from the embrace, the ghost of a fond smile on her lips. "Let's get some sleep, alright? It's been a long day, and I'm tired."

Komaru's lips twitched up as well. "What, can't sleep without me?"

"Don't let it go to your head." One of Komaru's hands was still in Toko's so she tugged her to bed. Komaru didn't even bother putting away her other clothes before climbing into bed with Toko. They'd still be there in the morning. She figured just that once wouldn't hurt.

"Night, Toko." Sleeping with their arms around each other, even just partially, was second nature and helped them sleep easier. That was when Komaru felt her best- right next to Toko.


End file.
